10k progression run (45:11)

This morning's run didn't start out as an intended progression run but as I got farther away from home I realized that I needed to pick up the pace to get home in time so Andi could also get out for a run on her own (without BOB). The last three miles ended up being at or faster than marathon pace. I also wanted to explore some of the short trails near "the hill." at the end of 45th St. to see if I could make a short trail loop that I could use for intervals or repeats. I mapped out a loop that was almost exactly 1 mile. Andi and I both got in 40-45 minute runs BEFORE the boys woke up!

Mile splits were 8:17, 7:47, 7:28, 6:58, 6:46, 6:38.
Average pace 7:17 for 10k.

May was an inconsistent return to training, mostly due to high winds and low motivation. I must get back to some consistent training in June if I want to run a good 5k on July 4th.

I have a few options for fall races that might be good.
The Santa Clarita Marathon/Half Marathon on November 2nd, which I have run twice:
The first time was in 2005 with by brother-in-law Clark, we ran (1:43:04) and he had never been under 2 hours!
The second time was in 2006 in preparation for the LV Marathon, and I was 3rd in my age group in (1:22:42), my third fastest half marathon.

The other race is the first annual Pasadena Marathon/Half Marathon which is on November 16th. There is no course maps yet but looks interesting.

The last option is the California International Marathon in Sacramento, CA on December 7th if Clay is ready to race a good marathon.

There is also the Rose Bowl Half Marathon on December 13th which I guess is pretty hilly!

Let me know if anyone reading wants to come out for one of these races!

3 x 5 minute intervals, total mileage 8 miles

My interval workout was executed well this morning. I did a 15 minute warm up followed by 3 sets of 5min at vV02max and 5 minutes rest, then a 15 minute cool down.
The weather was near perfect.
Total time running was 60 minutes exactly.
Total mileage was 8 miles.
Total time at V02max was 9 minutes.

My first 5 minute interval I ran .73 miles but it ended on a hill for the last minute.
My second 5 min interval I ran .88 miles.
My third 5 min interval I ran .83 miles.

Pace was around 5:40-6:00 during each interval.
Equal rest time (5 minutes) at about 8:30-9:00 pace between intervals.

It was a tough work out, and I may repeat it in 3 weeks.
Next week is 5 x 4 minutes at vV02max.

9 mile easy/long run (1:10:00)

I ran 9 miles this morning which is the longest run since Boston. I wanted to run about 70 minutes so that was perfect. Average pace was 7:47.

Mile splits were 8:38, 8:16, 8:17, 7:58, 8:02, 7:23, 7:15, 7:16, 6:52.

It still takes a while to get warmed up (about 5 miles, see splits), and it was kind of cool this morning (I wore long sleeves) and a little windy, but not bad enough to keep me inside.

Today also put me over 500 miles for the year so far, not a ton but considering the illnesses and aches & pains here and there, not bad. I'm averaging 100 miles per month.

3 mile recovery run

3x1 mile loops around the neighborhood for an easy recovery run. It was windy and looks like it may rain today.

This just in: Paula Radcliffe has a stress fracture of her femur! Maybe running during her pregnancy and jumping right back into some hardcore training wasn't such a good idea. She thinks she may still be able to run in Beijing. I think the olympics are cursed for Paula, she DNF'd in 2004.

7 mile fartlek run (49:57) to start a VO2max mesocyle

6 weeks until the July 4th Newhall 5k which is just enough time to finish a training cycle with an emphasis on VO2max or interval training. I decided my first run would be a less structured fartlek format, since I haven't done anything that fast over the last 2 months at least.

I ran my regular 7 mile run, the first 2 miles were warm up then I threw in 5 sets of about 3 minutes at vVO2max (velocity at VO2max) which for me is about 5:40-5:50 pace, followed by 2 sets of 90 seconds at vVO2max. It was a good effort with the total time for 7 miles being 49:57 or 7:08 pace.

Mile splits were 7:59, 7:46, 6:53, 7:01, 6:45, 6:34, 6:54.

The recovery time between sets was about 3-4 minutes but it was really just when I felt like I could complete another 3 minute interval.

For those of you interested, you can improve your VO2max by stressing it, meaning running at or very near your velocity at VO2max (the pace you can sustain all out for 10-12 minutes). There is a high anaerobic component as your heart rate is also at its maximum. It takes about 2 minutes of running at this velocity to reach your V02max due to oxygen debt, so I only get credit for 1 minute at VO2max during a 3 minute interval. So total today I spent about 5-6 minutes stressing my VO2 max. Running faster than this speed does not stress it anymore or give you more training gains. It just makes you more sore or tired.

This is a great example of how more or faster is not always better. Don't get me wrong, your vVO2max is a pretty intense speed to begin with (HR 95-100% of your max).

I plan on doing one workout a week of interval training to stress my VO2 max in preparation for the 5k race. My next interval workout will include 3 sets of 5 minutes at vVO2max with approximately the same amount of recovery between. It will either be Tuesday or Thursday, which ever is less windy.
I also hope to get in a 75-80 minute run over the weekend.

I included the two pictures that I ordered from marathonfoto taken at the Boston Marathon. They were really the only two good pictures they took of me there. The last picture is not the finish line but actually some where around half way.


Taken from Runners World Daily blog discussing an article written about ultramarathoners:

Like trained monkeys or drug addicts, some athletes will do whatever it takes for more.

Runners World comment:

"I don't know about you, but I may have just found a new favorite running quote.

Oh, and a note to the author of the article: Some runners -- particularly the sub-3-hour marathon crowd -- may take offense at that wording.

They are highly trained monkeys, thank you very much."

7 miles Henderson, NV (Hills)

Got up early today May 17 and got in a good 7 miles in the hills around my mom's house. Left at 5:30 so I could get ready and arrive on time to a continuing education course that I am taking in Las Vegas. The course has been really interesting with some great new information on functional movement screening.

The run was nice with lots of elevation gain over the first 4 miles then mostly down hill on the way home. No Garmin, no MP3s, just a nice calm quiet morning. It was in the 70s in the morning and heated up over 100 by mid day.

I felt pretty good after the run and am ready to start playing with some different speeds next week.

4 mile easy run

The mornings have been great around here lately. Both my hamstrings are tight today (the left still worse than the right). I did a lot of stretching yesterday with may have increased my soreness. It was about a 30 minute run for 4 miles, I had no watch.

4 miles included a few surges here and there, but it took at least 3 miles to feel warmed up.

Keep an eye out for the results of the Bolder Boulder in Colorado on May 26th. Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor, both US Marathon Trials champs, are scheduled to run there in 11 days. Should be an exciting race. Interesting, since they both ran marathons about a month ago, they are now doing some 10k speed training and then I am assumming they will start doing more threshold runs and marathon pacing long runs as they prepare for Beijing in August.

7 mile progression run (51:24)

It was a beautiful morning today, and a great day for a run. I did the same 7 mile course that I did last friday but 3 minutes faster (51:24). I felt the best that I have since the marathon so I increased the pace toward the end of the run.

Mile splits were 8:00, 7:44, 7:45, 7:23, 7:08, 6:43, 6:36. Average pace was 7:20. The last mile was close to my threshold pace which is about 6:20 pace per mile.

My plan is to do some fartlek runs and progression runs over the next two weeks, building up to some long intervals one day a week in June in preparation for the July 4th Newhall 5k.

My velocity at VO2max is around 5:45 pace per mile.

5 mile run with Andi and BOB

Andi and I ran 5 miles this morning taking turns pushing the boys in our double jogger. It is a BOB Revolution Duallie Stroller. It is a nice smooth ride for the boys and they "usually" fall asleep. With the stroller and two boys it is about an extra 80 pounds to push! It was a beautiful morning and we had a nice run.

Clay and I had our second running clinic today. It went pretty well, we kept it to one hour, but we had a smaller crowd this time. Everyone said they learned something which makes it a success for me. Anyone have ideas for our next topic?

I want to send a shout out and positive vibes to a classmate and friend of mine, Ron Gallagher, who is running his first half marathon next weekend at the Palos Verdes Marathon. His wife Julie is also running it as her second half marathon. Good luck you guys, and have fun! We are proud of you!

7 miles in 54 minutes

Ran 7 miles this morning...first mile 8:30 next 4 miles around 7:50 pace and last 2 miles at 7:20 pace. My left leg tightened up on the last mile and I experienced some mile left knee swelling during the day at work. When the knee has just a little inflammation the patella tracks poorly and I get some popping and tightness during the last 30 degrees of knee extension.

Clay found a great site that will calculate your VDOT (VO2max based on recent race time) and give you appropriate training paces for marathon pace, LT pace, intervals, and repetitions. These values are derived from Daniels' Running Formula, 2nd edition. Note that the new E/L paces are slightly slower than recommended in previous editions. It is similar to McMillan's running calculator. Check it out here.

This calculates my highest VDOT based on my PRs as my 1600M best of 4:50 (VDOT=61.27), then my 5k best of 17:06 (VDOT=59.78) and my half marathon best 1:20:00 (VDOT=58.35). These times have equivalent marathon times under 2:50.

My marathon PR gives me a VDOT of 54.09.

4 miles in 32 minutes

Ran 4 miles in 32 minutes today. I would say I still only feel about 75-80% recovered, but I guess it has only been two weeks since Boston. I did a l mile loop around our neighborhood a few times just in case I needed to quit early.

I wanted to post a link to some video interviews of Coach Jack Daniels, PhD. This guy really knows his stuff and trains runners with a scientific evidence based approach, but also gets into their heads and learns how each runner psychologically needs to be treated. He is on my list of people I would love to meet. That list also includes Jim Ryun and Roger Bannister.

That flocasts.org website has some great running videos and interviews including Shalane Flanagan breaking the american record in the 10k this weekend (30:34). This is a great site if you are looking to kill an hour or more.

3 mile hike and 4 mile run in the Angeles National Forest

We met some friends Dawn and Bill Schneider, who also have two kids, and drove into the Angeles National Forest for some hiking, running, and a picnic. The hike was up to the Vetter Lookout Tower which was originally a forest fire lookout. There is a small white lookout house at the top (5908 ft) with a great 360 degree view of the area. It felt like a much higher elevation than it was. The hike was 1.5 miles each way and Andi and I carried the boys up most of the way (Matt was pretty tired from his cousin Luke's first birthday party the day before). There is a nice trail map online here.

After the hike we drove further to the Chilao Campground where Bill and I did somewhere between 4-5 miles of trail running, the first mile was all switchbacks, probably a little too much for me right now but I made it.

Finally, we had an early picnic dinner of burgers and hot dogs and drove home. It was a fun family trip.
I plan on getting back into my 4 day per week running schedule this week.

Easy 5 miles still in marathon recovery mode

I got my second run in since Boston with 5 easy miles today. I am also still not wearing a watch which helps keep me from running too fast (seems a little contradictory I know). I am still feeling the effects of the marathon including: broken cell fibres, swollen cells, mangled membranes, degenerated mitochondria, and damaged blood vessels (taken from a study carried out by Michael Warhol and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University that uncovered extensive damage in marathoners' leg muscles immediately after the 26.2-mile race). Mostly it has been in the form of a really tight left hamstring, thanks to running over 20 miles with a cramped one. Thankfully, it has continued to improve daily with walking and stretching. I have also started to gently begin the lunchtime circuit at a much lower intensity this week. It felt the best that it has today (my right leg feels fine). I plan on continuing in a recovery mode for the month of May and then, based on how I feel, do some shorter speedier stuff in preparation for a July 4th 5k.

Variation: Keys to Improving Running Economy is the title of the second running clinic put on by Clay Patten and me scheduled for May 10 at 11:00am at Valley Physical Therapy Group in Lancaster, CA. I have been reading from Jack Daniels, PhD. and Coach Greg McMillan, both based in Flagstaff, AZ, and have collected some great information that we will be sharing next week. I got to meet Greg in Boston which was a real treat. I hope to post some related info here periodically as well.